Breakdown of Что они ни твердят, им нечего терять, это бессмысленно.
это
this / it is
они
they
что
what
им
to them
терять
to lose
нечего
nothing (there is nothing to...)
ни
no matter (concessive particle)
твердить
to reiterate
бессмысленно
pointlessly
Questions & Answers about Что они ни твердят, им нечего терять, это бессмысленно.
How does что ... ни work here, and why isn't it translated as a negative?
This is the core structure for "no matter what." When you combine an interrogative word (like что) with the particle ни and a present or future tense verb, it creates a universal concessive clause. The ни here does not negate the verb; instead, it generalizes the action. Therefore, Что они ни твердят translates to "No matter what they keep saying," rather than being a negative statement.
Why use the verb твердят here instead of a more common verb like говорят?
Твердят comes from the verb твердить, which means to repeat something over and over, or to harp on a topic. It gives the sentence a more emphatic, slightly frustrated tone, highlighting that the people won't stop repeating themselves. It is an excellent B2 vocabulary word for adding emotional nuance compared to the basic говорят (they say).
Why is it им нечего терять instead of им ничего терять?
Нечего is a special negative pronoun used specifically with an infinitive to mean "there is nothing to [do]." This structure requires the logical subject to be in the dative case, which is why we see им (to them). If you used the standard ничего, you would need a nominative subject and a negated verb, such as они ничего не теряют (they are losing nothing). Им нечего терять is the exact idiomatic equivalent of "they have nothing to lose."
How does the pronunciation of нечего differ from ничего?
In нечего, the stress always falls heavily on the first syllable (не-). This stress rule applies to all impersonal negative pronouns used with infinitives, such as некуда (nowhere to go) or некому (no one to do it). In contrast, the standard negative pronoun ничего has its stress on the very last syllable (-го).
Learn Что они ни твердят, им нечего терять, это бессмысленно and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free